Company: Bank of England
Location: London
Employment Type: Full–time
Posted: 16 hours ago
Description:
Department Overview
Banking Directorate (BD) supports the Bank’s mission to maintain monetary and financial stability by using and sharing its expertise to: develop and operate resilient and efficient banking, payment and custody services; set and influence policy; and to promote innovation.
We are at the heart of the Bank both in terms of our core role in Monetary and Financial Stability, and the wide range of internal stakeholders we collaborate with. The variety and immediacy of the work we do means we are one of the most outward facing and fast moving areas of the Bank, acting as the ‘bank’ within the Bank of England for government, UK CCPs and other central banks.
Banking Operations in Customer Banking Division (CBD), sits within the BD structure. The role of the Banking Operations team is to deliver a wide range of banking services to our customers, including central banks and international financial institutions, crisis accounts, as well as internal and government customers. We provide custodial services for gold and the Bank’s contingency banknote store, high value payment services in sterling and euro, services in retail banking through our membership of BACs, as well as operating a Counter service for processing note exchanges.
The Sterling Payment Operations (SPO) team was formed in May 2022 and provides a number of payment services including: wholesale banking services to the Government and other customers such as central banks and CCPs; settlement of high value CHAPS payments and retail/BACs payments. The SPO team comprises of c.20 staff ranging from Scale I to F.
Job Description
This is a Technical Specialist role that will be focused on delivering our business as usual payment obligations as well as providing technical input and support to the change management programme. The role is focused on SPO’s sterling operations.
The team are responsible for management of the Exchequer Pyramid; monitoring and reporting on the flow of funds across these government accounts, including daily liaison with HM Treasury, Debt Management Office and the Government Banking Service.
The team are responsible for processing, investigating and resolving CHAPS and SWIFT payment queries and providing a professional customer service. The team are required to operate from 05:30 to 19:00 and are split across two shifts on a rota basis. The Early Shift works from 05:30am until 12:00pm (typically worked from home) and the late shift is from 12:00pm until 19:00 pm. There is also a requirement to work some weekends.
Your responsibilities will include:
• Provision of operational and technical analysis to the team as applicable
• Ensuring operational deadlines are met and escalated appropriately
• Thoroughly understanding the business processes, systems and controls
• Taking a proactive role in the initiation, design, testing and implementation of changes to business processes and systems, ensuring there are no business or customer impacts
• Seeking to become an ‘expert’ in all technical aspects of the operations
• Undertaking ad-hoc tasks and analysis as required
• Regularly review internal procedures, process instructions and best practice guidelines
• Identifying improvements and making recommendations to enhance internal controls and procedures
• Acquiring in-depth industry knowledge and ensuring this remains current
• Encouraging operational excellence and a culture of continuous improvement and change
• Act as a lead point of contact on project work (examples are ISO 20022, RT Renewal, Swift Standard releases)
• Supporting, coaching and developing the team’s technical and business knowledge by sharing knowledge and experience with team members
• Leading on business continuity planning, testing and analysis
• Representing the Bank at external meetings, ensuring write-ups and actions are progressed in a timely manner as required Role Requirements
Minimum Criteria
• Self motivation and organisational skills, including the ability to prioritise and switch between urgent operational issues
• Analytical and communication skills, with the ability to understand a operational problem, evaluate potential solutions and make necessary recommendations to managers
• The ability to use initiative to identify and implement solutions or improvements to processes
• Credibility and confidence in handling others including, where appropriate, customers at peer group and senior management levels, exercising sound judgement and responding sensitively and confidentially to customer requests
• A collaborative working style together with the ability to communicate effectively with a wide range of internal and external customer/contacts, including the confidence to represent the Bank externally at industry meetings
• Flexible, adaptable and able to manage change pro-actively
• Awareness of and adherence to control procedures
• Ability to work both as part of a close knit team and independently
• The ability to work accurately and to tight deadlines
• Confident in the use of Excel and other Microsoft products
Essential Criteria
• A strong understanding of Sterling Payment Operations team processes, which would include knowledge of T24, RT and SAA in the settlement of payments
• Knowledge of SWIFT and FCRM would also be highly beneficial
• Strong understanding of MX payment messages.
Reward
The role you are applying for has a pay and development framework in place, with the opportunity to progress after approximately 18-24 months, contingent upon acquiring the necessary skills and knowledge to transition to the experienced level. The framework will provide clarity on the skills to be developed and our expectation is that all staff who invest in their development will achieve this pay progression.
This role also currently benefits from an additional Banking Operators Allowance – This is a non-pensionable cash amount equivalent to £4,000 per annum for full time employees, pro-rated for part-time staff in accordance with their working pattern. This will be paid in equal monthly instalments and will be subject to tax and national insurance. It is paid in addition to base salary and will not affect the value of benefits, performance award or pension contribution.
Our Approach to Inclusion
The Bank values diversity, equity and inclusion. We play a key role in maintaining monetary and financial stability, and to do that effectively, we believe we need a workforce that reflects the society we serve.
At the Bank of England, we want all colleagues to feel valued and respected, so we’re working hard to build an inclusive culture which supports people from all backgrounds and communities to be at their best at work. We celebrate all forms of diversity, including (but not limited to) age, disability, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, race, religion, sexual orientation and socioeconomic status. We believe that it’s by drawing on different perspectives and experiences that we’ll continue to make the best decisions for the public.
We welcome applications from individuals who work flexibly, including job shares and part time working patterns. We’ve also partnered with external organisations to support us in making adjustments for candidates and employees in the recruitment process where they’re needed.
For most roles where work can be carried out at home, we aim for colleagues to spend half of their time in the office, with a minimum of 40% per month. Subject to that minimum requirement, individuals and managers should work together to find what works best for them, their team and stakeholders.
Finally, we’re proud to be a member of the Disability Confident Scheme. If you wish to apply under this scheme, you should check the box in the ‘Candidate Personal Information’ under the ‘Disability Confident Scheme’ section of the application.
Salary and Benefits Information
This role offers a salary of £39,360 per annum (FTE). We encourage flexible working, part time working and job share arrangements. Part time salary and benefits will be on a pro-rated basis as appropriate.
In addition, we also offer a comprehensive benefits package as detailed below:
• A non-contributory, career average pension giving you a guaranteed retirement benefit of 1/95th of your annual salary for every year worked. There is the option to increase your pension (to 1/50th) or decrease (to 1/120th) in exchange for salary through our flexible benefits programme each year.
• A discretionary performance award based on a current award pool.
• A 8% benefits allowance with the option to take as salary or purchase a wide range of flexible benefits.
• 26 days’ annual leave with option to buy up to 12 additional days through flexible benefits.
• Private medical insurance and income protection.
National Security Vetting Process
Employment in this role will be subject to the National Security Vetting clearance process (and typically can take between 6 to 12 weeks post offer) and the passing of additional Bank security checks in accordance with the Bank policy. Further information regarding the vetting and security clearance requirements for the role will be provided to the successful applicant, and information about how the Bank processes personal data for these purposes, is set out in the Bank’s Privacy Notice.
The Bank of England welcomes applications from all candidates, but as a UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) approved sponsor, we have a responsibility to comply with the Immigration Rules and guidance. As such, our ability to employ individuals who require sponsorship for immigration purposes is limited. The Bank cannot guarantee that you and / or the role you are applying for will be eligible for sponsorship and that any application made to UKVI will be successful. Eligibility will therefore be considered on a case by case basis.
The Application Process
Important: Please ensure that you complete the ‘work history’ section and answer ALL the application questions fully. All candidate applications are anonymised to ensure that our hiring managers will not be able to see your personal information, including your CV, when reviewing your application details at the screening stage. It’s therefore really important that you fill out the work history and application form questions, as your answers will form a critical part of the initial selection process.
The assessment process will comprise of two interview stages.
This role closes on Tuesday 28th January 2025.
Please apply online, ensuring that you complete your work history and answer ALL the application questions fully and in detail as your application will not be considered if all mandatory questions are not fully completed.
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